USA > Kansas > Nemaha County > History of Nemaha County, Kansas > Part 72
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Frank F. Wessel, with whose career this review is directly con- corned, left his native country and immigrated to America in 1902. He first settled at Seneca, Kans., and worked out as farm hand for three years. He then began working for his father, and tilled the home place until his father's death. Mr. Wessel bought the home farm from his father. some time previous to his father's death.
Mr. Wessel was married to Miss Lizzie Macke, on May 20, 1908. They have two children, as follows: Henry, and Mary. Another child died in infancy. Mrs. Wessel was born in the St. Benedict neighborhood of Nemaha county, May 20, 1884, and is a daughter of Frank and Berne- dina (Wietham) Macke, both of whom were natives of Germany, where Frank Macke was born January 29, 1847. He came to Nemaha county, Kansas, in 1878 and, during his second year of residence here, he bought
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eighty acres of land in Marion township. At the time of his death, September 2, 1908, he owned 240 acres in all. Mrs. Wessel's mother was born February 4, 1851, and is now making her home among her chil- dren. Ten children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Macke, five of whom are living and seven of whom were born in this county.
Since coming into possession of the home farm, Mr. Wessel has made some substantial improvements on his tract, one of which is a good barn. He raises good crops, and is industrious and enterprising to such an extent that it is easily predicted that he is just at the initial beginning of his accomplishments. He and Mrs. Wessel are members of the Catholic church. Mr. Wessel is an independent Democrat in polit- ical matters.
William H. Donald .- William H. Donald, farmer and stockman of Illinois township, was born on the farm which he is now managing, August 21, 1874. He is therefore, a native-born pioneer and a son of. pioneer parents who made a settlement in Nemaha county in 1871. His father was George Donald, born in Scotland, March 27, 1842, and was brought to America by his parents when an infant and was reared to manhood in Michigan, where the Donald family settled. He grew up in the lumber camps of Michigan and followed lumbering and wood chopping for five years previous to migrating to Nemaha county in 1871. When he arrived here in this county he bought a homestead of eighty acres in section 32 of Illinois township. The first Donald home, which is still standing, was built of lumber hauled from Atchison, Kans., and is sixteen by twenty-four feet and a story and a half in height. With thorough industry and true Scottish thrift George Donald achieved a striking success in his adopted State and became a large land owner. His possessions included 800 acres of tillable land in Nemaha and Pottawatomie counties. He made the greater part of his wealth in raising and feeding large herds of cattle and droves of hogs on a con- siderable scale and invested his surplus earnings each year in land. Evi- dently Mr. Donald foresaw the inevitable rise in land values and builded better for the future than he knew. The estate is still held intact and is in charge of William H. Donald, subject of this review. Mr. Donald died in 1911. He was married in 1871 to Christy Black, who bore him five children, as follows: James, lives at Great Bend, Kans .; William H., with whom this review intimately concerns; Flora, wife of Prof. Henry Loudenback, head of the Loudenback School of Music, Atchison, Kans .: John, a farmer of Illinois township ; Mrs. Margaret Nightingale, Illinois township. The mother of the foregoing children was born in Canada, December, 1847, and died December 14, 1915. Mr. and Mrs. Donald were a worthy and highly respected couple who are deserving of a place of honor and respect in the annals of the county in which they played such a material part in upbuilding and to which they con- tributed a fine family of children.
William H. Donald was reared on the Donald home place and was
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educated in the district school and the Corning public schools. He has followed in his father's footsteps as an industrious and upright citizen , and it devolved upon him to take charge of his father's estate upon his demise. Mr. Donald is farming 320 acres of land on his own account, '120 acres of which are planted to corn this year (1916). He is independ- ent in politics and is a wideawake and well read and intelligent citizen who enjoys the respect and esteem of many friends and acquaintances.
George Ronnebaum, a deservedly popular young farmer of Gilman township, was born on a farm in Gilman township, November 9, 1887, and is a son of Bernard and Bernedina . (Fienhage) Ronnebaum, who were natives of Germany, and were parents of the following children : Dr. Henry, deceased physician of Seneca, Kans .; Bernard, a farmer of Richmond township; Joseph, a farmer of Mitchell township; Elizabeth, a teacher in the parochial schools at Horton, Kans., and who was edu- cated at Mt. St. Scholastica's Academy, Atchison, Kans .; Frank, de- ceased; John, an automobile machinist at Seneca, Kans .; George, sub- ject of this review; Mrs. Catharine Becker, Mitchell township; Mary, wife of Joseph Stillman, deceased ; August, a farmer in Richmond town- ship. All of the foregoing children are well educated, and are well-to-do. Bernard Ronnebaum, the father, was born at Oldenburg, Germany, in 1842, and for seventeen years previous to coming to America, he was a sailor on the high seas. He immigrated to this country in 1876, and set- tled in Nemaha county, Kansas. For the first two years of his residence here, he worked out as a farm hand, and then rented land for a few years. He eventually bought 120 acres in section 17, Gilman township, and im- proved it with good buildings. He farmed this tract until 1896, and then moved to another farm, which he owned north of Seneca, and lived there until his death in 1911. He became owner of 560 acres of land in Nemaha county. Mrs. Ronnebaum was born in 1856, and resides on the farm with her children.
George Ronnebaum was reared on his father's farm, and is, at pres- ent, operating the old home place in Gilman township. He received his education in district No. 99 of Gilman township, and began doing for himself when he was a young man. He was married January 25, 1910, to Elizabeth Dalsing, who has borne him three children, namely: Clar- ence, born April 26, 1911; Robert, born October 9, 1912; Edwin, born March 15, 1914.
Mrs. Elizabeth Ronnebaum was born at Independence, Kans., May 24, 1890, and is a daughter of John and Mary (Dietering) Dalsing. Her father, John Dalsing, was born in Wisconsin, in June, 1857, and was a son of German emigrants. John Dalsing and Mary Deitering were mar- ried at Independence, Kans., in January, 1882. They lived for a year in Ohio, but have spent the greater part of their married lives at Indepen- dence, where they own 300 acres in the gas and oil section. When they first started out in wedded life, they had a very hard time of making ends meet, and owned but one team of oxen, and lived in a one-room log house
(42)
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in Montgomery county, Kansas. At this time they are prosperous and fairly well-to-do. There are three producing gas and oil wells on their farm, and they burn gas in the home. Thirteen children have been born to them, ten daughters and three sons, of whom Tillie died September 6, 1903. Four daughters are married, namely, Mrs. Joseph Ronnebaum, Mrs. Louis Hasenkamp, Mrs. Joseph Hasenkamp, and Mrs. Walter Reit- inger. Mrs. Mary Dalsing was born at Ottawa, Ohio, in August, 1861.
Mr. Ronnebaum is a Democrat in politics, and at present time, is a candidate for the nomination of sheriff on the Democratic county tickett.
John A. and William T. Long .- In a little over twenty years the Long brothers, John A. and William T., have become owners of 200 acres of land in Illinois township, which they cultivate in congenial partnership. They began with no capital whatever but their young strength and a determination to get ahead in the world-essentials, which, after all, are the best possessions with which one must be equip- ped in order to make a success of any undertaking. When John A. Long, the elder brother, came west in search of fortune twenty-eight years ago, his cash capital was just twenty-five cents when he landed at Ef- fingham, Kans. He was homesick also, and did not like the looks of the country, which in its treeless condition was a striking contrast to his far-away home in Pennsylvania. He thought that the "honey pond" for which he had been searching in the western country was just a ways beyond and he followed the westward pathway to Colorado after two years spent as a farm hand, but eventually returned to Kansas as the best spot to make his future home, after all.
John A. Long was born April 26, 1866, in Perry county, Pennsyl- vania. He is a son of Jacob and Anna (Hostetter) Long, who were the parents of ten children, all of whom are living. Jacob Long, his father, was born on the Long homestead in Perry county, Pennsylvania, in 1840 and died in 1908. He operated a saw mill run by water power until the outbreak of the Civil war when he enlisted in the Tenth Penn- sylvania cavalry regiment and saw service in the army of Gen. W. T. Sherman as teamster of supply trains. After the war he again resumed his milling operations until his demise. Jacob was a son of Abraham and Margaret (O'Donnell) Long, natives of Pennsylvania and Ohio, re- spectively. The mother of John A. and William T. Long was born in Perry county, Pennsylvania, on April 4, 1844, and died in January, 1916. She was a daughter of George Hostetter, a native of Germany, who married a Miss Rivers.
William Thomas Long, the younger brother, was born in Pennsyl- vania, February 28, 1870, and came to Kansas with his brother on the second trip made by John A. He lived in Atchison county until 1897 when he joined his brother on the Nemaha county farm. John A. Long left the old home in Pennsylvania in 1888 and settled in Atchison county, Kansas, where he was employed as farm hand for two years and then went further west to Colorado and worked in that State for a time and
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returned home. Upon his second trip to Kansas some time later he was accompanied by his brother, William Thomas. The boys worked for a time in Atchison county, and John A. made another trip to Colorado and worked there for three years. He returned to Kansas in 1894 and bought 'an eighty-acre tract in Illinois township, Nemaha county, with his savings. He was joined by William T. in 1897 and the boys have made a great success of their farming venture. Both brothers vote the Republican ticket and are members of the Kelly Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Edwin Broadbent, farmer and stockman, of Illinois township, was born on the farm where he now resides, October 9, 1885. He is a son of Valentine and Marion (Walters) Broadbent, who were the parents of four children, as follows: William, a farmer in Red Vermillion town- ship, and owner of a quarter section of good land ; Bertha, wife of Arthur Tinklin, a farmer of Harrison township; Edwin, subject of this review; Ralph, who is deceased.
Valentine Broadbent, father of the foregoing children, was born in England, September 30, 1854, near the city of Halifax. He was left an orphan at the early age of thirteen years and then immigrated to America with his uncle, Robert Broadbent, who settled near Kewanee, Ill. As he grew up, he became a farmer and worked on his uncle's farm and the neighboring farms until he came to Kansas in March of 1882. He bought the home place of the Broadbent family, consisting of 160 acres in Illinois township, Nemaha county, for which he paid $3 per acre. His means were limited as were those of practically the greater number of Nemaha county pioneers, and for the first years of the residence of the family in this county, the Broadbent home consisted of a small one room dwelling, 12X16 feet in size. In this small house, the family were reared, and he and his good wife carried on the hard struggle to found a home in the newer country. This section of Nemaha county was thinly settled in those days, and houses were few and far between. Many days and months were lonesome ones for the young wife and mother, and the first few years were replete with hardships which they bore with fortitude. As time went on and the children grew up able and willing to bear some of the burdens which the parents had carried in their behalf, Valentine Broadbent prospered and the little one-room shack gave way to a better and larger residence. The shade and fruit trees grew large and tall, and transformed the barren aspect of the prairie homestead. The small clus- ter of make shift farm buildings were replaced with substantial struc- tures, and the Broadbent acres- became increasingly productive. Mr. Broadbent remained in active charge of the farm until 1910, at which time he retired, turned over the farm to his son and has spent his time among his children, who have all become substantial and well respected members of the county. Mr. Broadbent was married in Illinois to Ma- rion Walters, who was born in Ohio, December 8, 1862, and was reared in Iowa county, where her parents removed when she was but a child.
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Mrs. Broadbent died in 1910. Mr. and Mrs. Broadbent were devout Methodists, and assisted in building the Corning Methodist Church. Mr. Broadbent is still active and influential in the affairs of this church, and the effect of his upright and moral life has been a power for good in his community.
Edwin Broadbent received his education in district school No. 105; and has always lived on the Broadbent home place, which he is renting from his father, who owns the tract of 240 acres which he is cultivating. Mr. Broadbent is a breeder of Shorthorn cattle, a departure in animal husbandry which he began in 1914. He also maintains a drove of high grade Percheron horses.
He was married February 11, 1910, to Miss Florence Tinklin, who was born in Illinois township, March 12, 1891, and is a daughter of George and Louise (Godfrey) Tinklin, who were natives of England and early settlers in Nemaha county. Mrs. Broadbent is a graduate of the Corning High School. Two children have been born to thi marriage, namely : Edith, born March 13, 1912; Mildred, born April 19, 1915.
Mr. and Mrs. Broadbent are members of the Methodist church, and contribute of their means to the support of this denomination. Mr. Broadbent is an uncompromising Democrat who believes thoroughly in Democratic principles of government and votes as he believes. He has filled the office of township clerk of his township, and is interested in politics. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America.
Albert L. Austin, pioneer and Union veteran employee, was born on a farm in Dodge county, Wisconsin, April 22, 1847, and is a son of Moses T. and Catharine (Hathaway) Austin, who were the parents of three children. Moses Austin, his father, died when Albert 'L. was six years old, and three children were thus left fatherless, namely: Albert L., the subject of this review; Allen M., a resident of Spokane, Wash .; a daughter, Edwinah, died in infancy. The mother of these children was again married to Charles Genung, and one child was born to this mar- riage, namely : Mrs. Carrie Fowel, a widow living in Washington.
Mr. Austin began learning the blacksmith's trade when fourteen years old, and three years later he enlisted as a blacksmith in the Union ser- vice and served the Federal Government throughout the war. While not an active participant in the great battles of the rebellion, he wit- nessed many of them while performing his very useful services as a blacksmith. He was present with the army of General Thomas at Nashville, Tenn., and witnesed the great battle, which resulted in the rout of General Hood's army. After the close of the war he re- turned to his mother's home in Wisconsin and followed farming and smithing until 1872. In that year he came to Nemaha county and opened a blacksmith shop in Sabetha, where he wielded his sledge and hammer for twenty-five years, years which were prosperous. So well did his hard work reward him that he determined to go back to the land and in 1900 he sold out his shop and moved to his nice farm in section 14, Rock Creek township, which he had purchased in 1875.
ALBERT L. AUSTIN.
MRS. A. L. AUSTIN AND GRANDSON, THOMAS VERNON AUSTIN.
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It is self-evident that Mr. Austin is a natural born farmer, for he has succeeded in increasing his acreage to the large total of 360 acres of land. Of late years he has turned over the cultivation of his farm to his son, Paul, and is living a contented and peaceful life, replete with the satisfaction of the knowledge of a life well spent in behalf of his county and family.
Mr. Austin was married in Wisconsin in 1868 to Ellen Fisher, who was born in New York State, March 31, 1848. Mr. and Mrs. Austin have had the following children born to them: Mrs. Katharine Hop- kins, Seattle, Wash .; Thomas V., North Platte, Neb .; Paul, at home. The mother of these children is a daughter of Samuel and Betsie (Tremper) Fisher, natives of New York State, where both were born and reared, removing to Wisconsin in 1849.
The Progressive wing of the Republican party has the support and allegiance of Mr. Austin, and he believes in a good and honest govern- ment, administered in the interests of all the people. While a resident of Sabetha he took an active and influential part in civic matters and served as a member of the city council, filled the post of school trustee and was city treasurer for some years. He is an all-round good citizen. He is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.
Charles J. Watkins .- "Maple Hill Farm." Charles J. Watkins, far- mer and stockman of Illinois township, was born on a farm in Mason county. Illinois. and is a son of James and Lydia (Walters) Watkins, who were the parents of five sons and two daughters. James Watkins, the father, was born in Mason county, Illinois, in 1843, and was a veteran of the Civil war. He enlisted in an Illinois regiment of Union volunteers and served throughout the great rebellion, receiving his honorable dis- charge when the Confederacy capitulated. He remained in Mason county until 1870 and then came to Kansas and bought a farm in Brown county, upon which he lived until his retirement to a home in Hiawatha in 1893. His wife and the mother of Charles J., was born in Fulton county. Illinois, 1845, and died in Brown county, Kansas, in 1892.
Charles J. Watkins, subject of this review, assisted his father on the home farm in Brown county and attended the district school nearby until he attained his majority. He then rented land in his home county until he was enabled to make a purchase of his first tract in Benton county, Missouri, in 1903. Mr. Watkins has been somewhat of a trader during his time and has bought and sold several farms previous to locat- ing in Nemaha county in 1907. At this time he came to Nemaha county and bought a quarter section in Illinois township, known as the "Maple Hill Farm." He added a good barn to the existing improvements and has generally improved his place since taking possession.
Mr Watkins was united in marriage with Ida Harmonson in 1893. Two children have been born to this marriage, as follows: Grace, who died in 1893; Claudie, born September 10, 1898, and at home with her parents. Mrs. Watkins was born in Nemaha county, April 8, 1875, and
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is a daughter of F. M. and Delilah (Haston) Harmonson, who drove to Kansas from their home via the overland ox-wagon route and later moved to Brown county, where Mrs. Harmonson resides.
The Democratic party generally has the allegiance of Mr. Watkins, but he has never been active in politics beyond working for the success of his party and supporting the party candidates. He is much inter- ested in Masonry and has filled all chairs in the Corning Lodge of An- cient Free and Accepted Masons and is also affiliated with the Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows.
Hubert Clemens .- Independence of thought and action have been the creed of Hubert Clemens during the thirty years of his residence in Nemaha county, whither he came when a young man to find a home in the growing West. His industry and thrift have enabled him to become the possessor of a fine farm and he has achieved some reputation as a breeder of fine live stock. Mr. Clemens was born at Bittburg, Trier, Germany, November 24, 1866, and is a son of John and Catharine (Hen- nis) Clemens, to whom two children were born, namely: Mathew, a traveling salesman of Dyersville, Iowa, and Hubert, subject of this review.
John Clemens, his father, was born in Germany in 1822 and followed the trade of butcher for a livelihood. He emigrated from his native land to America and made a settlement at Aurora, Ill., as early as 1867. He first worked as a laborer and then operated a butcher busi- nes until his death in 1879. His wife, and mother of Hubert, was born in 1841 in Germany, and departed this life in 1873.
Hubert Clemens began working as a farm hand in order to gain a livelihood for himself when he was still a youth aged eleven years. He worked out by the month on the farms in the vicinity of Aurora, ยท Ill., until 1886. During this time, however, and while he was attaining young manhood, he was obsessed with the idea of going farther west- ward where land was cheap and obtainable on easy terms, and which could be obtained much easier and at a far less price per acre than in the vicinity of his old home. Land had been steadily advancing in value in Illinois and he decided to leave there and locate in Nemaha county, Kansas, in 1886. For the first two years he worked out and then rented the farm which he now owns, for a year. The second year he rented the F. A. Hulbert farm and then made his home with Mr. Bedsheim, with whom he farmed in partnership for four years. Mr Clemens carefully saved his earnings with a view to ultimately own- ing a farm of his own. The first tract which he farmed in the county eventually was placed on sale and he bought the tract of 120 acres in 1900. Even at that day the farm was poorly improved with an old log cabin, evidently built by the first homesteader, and Mr. Clemens re- placed it with a more modern home and a barn 28x30 feet in size, which was later supplemented with another barn 28x36 feet in dimensions. Mr. Clemens has out sixty-five acres in corn in 1916 and maintains on
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his fertile acres a herd of high-grade Shorthorn cattle and Poland China swine.
He was married to Mary Herbstreith, October 18, 1893. This marriage has been blessed with six children, as follows: Geneva, born September 11, [894, at Kelly, Kans .; Bryan, was born August 3, 1896; Mathias, was born February 4, 1900; Hazel, was born July 25, 1903; Grace, was born February 28, 1905; Alvin, was born February 27, 1912. Mrs. Clemens was born October 18, 1873, and is a daughter of John Herbstreith, who was born in Guttenberg, Germany, and left there when a young man and settled in Cook county, Illinois. He followed his trade of carpenter there and during his Civil war service was thrown from a horse and seriously injured. His injuries eventually resulted in his death, after years of suffering, on June 8, 1879, at the age of forty- four years. He enlisted August 1, 1861, at St. Louis, in Company E, First Missouri cavalry regiment, of the Union volunteers, and received his honorable discharge from the service at St. Louis on September 19, 1864. His wife, Caroline (Holtz) Herbstreith, was born in Germany, January 1. 1829. Her first marriage with Mr. Holtz took place in Ger- many, and after her immigration to this country she was widowed and married Mr. Herbstreith in Illinois. There were three children in the Herbstreith family, as follows: Mrs. Christina (Schumaker) Quinn, living at Wathena ; August, Oneida, Kans., and Mrs. Hubert Clemens. Mrs. Herbstreith makes her home with Mr. and Mrs. Clemens.
Mr. Clemens is an independent voter who is not allied with any political party and votes as his intelligence and comprehension dic- tates and allows no man to tell him how he should vote or which can- didate he should support. He is, therefore, a member of that vast and growing number of American citizens who are not held by the party yoke and do not listen to the dictates of the political bosses and through whom this country is destined to have a better and more representative government in the years to come. Even during the present political campaign the great independent vote is a factor with which the leaders are reckoning and which will turn the tide in favor of the fortunate candidate. He is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America.
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